Toni Kan, Nigerian writer and editor: ” It has the courage to say the unsayable”

Between October 2014 and January 2015 Angela Wachuka AKA Sister Killjoy shared her #100DaysofAfricanReads – a beautiful series of portraits highlighting the work of an African author in print or online each day for 100 days.

Ahead of our own ‘African Books to Inspire’ event at Africa Writes, this week writers photographed for the #100DaysofAfricanReads series will be sharing their top 3 titles from African literature with us.

What are your ‘African Books to Inspire’?

1. The Famished Road by Ben Okri remains my all time favourite book by an African author because of its epic scale and the riotous mix of myth, magic and realism with a language that evokes all that is magical and sad and beautiful about Africa.

2. Everything Good Will Come by Sefi Atta comes second because it does not just evoke the spirit, the sounds, the smell of Lagos – it is a love story to a city I love told with tenderness and sharp wit.

3. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie because it has the courage to say the unsayable and to bear witness as both historical document and riveting fiction which tells profoundly human stories set in a time of crisis.

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There is one week left to take advantage of £12 early bird tickets for Celebrating Buchi Emecheta on 3rd Feb 2018 at SOAS, University of London! Make sure you secure tickets before 20 December: buff.ly/2z8SpYP... See MoreSee Less

Don't miss our Film Africa screening of the highly contentious South African propaganda film 'De Voortrekkers' - the country's oldest surviving film - at The Castle Cinema this Saturday, 9 November, 2PM, with an amazing score by celebrated composer Juwon Ogungbe. The film is screening as part of the nation-wide Africa's Lost Classics season, a showcase of classic/cult African films rescued from obscurity, damage or suppression to be brought to UK screens. This is the final screening in the season, so grab your tickets now! Spaces are limited and advance booking is highly recommended: bit.ly/2AwP6JS #AfricasLostClassics ... See MoreSee Less

De Voortrekkers + LIVE SCORE by Juwon Ogungbe

December 9, 2017, 2:00pm - December 9, 2017, 9:00am

DE VOORTREKKERS [Harold Shaw | South Africa 1916 | 54 min]
+ LIVE SCORE performed by acclaimed Nigerian composer Juwon Ogungbe.
This 1916 epic is the oldest surviving South African feature film, comparable in scope and problematic politics to Griffith's Birth of a Nation.
It tells the story of the Boers' Great Trek, concluding with a reconstruction of the horrific 1838 Battle of Blood River, where a few hundred armed Afrikaners defeated several thousand Zulus.
Commemorating as it did the Afrikaners' view of a highly contentious period of history, the film came to be revered by the Afrikaner nation at the time.
While we recognise its problematic politics, this rare film has its place in the Africa's Lost Classics programme.
This screening is part of AiM's focus on Africa's Lost Classics, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
£5/8/10

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About Africa Writes

Africa Writes is the Royal African Society’s annual literature festival. Every year we showcase established and emerging talent from the African continent and its diaspora in what is now the UK’s biggest celebration of contemporary African writing taking place over an exciting summer weekend. The festival features book launches, readings, author appearances, panel discussions, youth and children’s workshops, and other activities